Propeller for propelling and steering ships



" p s, 1938. A. ANDERSON 2 2, 4

' PROPELLER FOR PROPELLFNG AND STEERINGSHIPS Filed Jan. 6, 1936 2 Sheets-SI ieet 1 i Z 10 Z INVENTOR April 5, 1938. A. F. ANDERSON 2,112,948

' I PROPELLER FOR PROPELLING STEERING SHIPS Filed Jan. e, 195 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z Ht Z ad w 3/ [a l- 30 I INVENTOR Patented Apr. 5, 193 8;

PROPELLEK FOR- PROPEIJJNG AND STEER- ING SHIPS 2 Claims. (01. 115-14) Seven: To produce propellers UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE My invention relates to improvementsfin' ship be attached to ships in conjunction with outpropellers which operate submerged in water board propelling motors. and in which thrust vanes are secured-in posiwhich are retions about revolving centrifugal impellers in 5 such a manner as to cause thrusts produced by its action on the water to be exerted indirections that are parallel or approximately parallel to the planes in which the impellers are revolving, the planes being normal to the impeller Third: To provide journals for positioning said impellers and impeller shafts;

Fourth: To combine all parts of such propellers into units that can be attached to ships and propel them; and

Fifth: To produce propellers in which none of the propulsive thrust need be imposed on the propeller shaft or the revolving impellers, but in which all of the propulsive thrust may be transferred directly to the ship through vanes attached to its hull.

Other objects and advantages of this invention are as follows:

' One: To produce propellers which may be mounted, in a practical manner, anywhere on ships hulls, such as on the sides, bottoms, \and ends of the same, and which can be employed on ships having the usual forms of ships propellers as well as those without the same.

-Two: To provide a means for propelling ships which operate as hydroplanes by producing pro- 40 pellers which may be attached to their bottoms where they have access to water.

Three: To provide a means for expending more energy for propulsion purposes without straining the. hulls of ships by employing a number of 5 propellers of my invention of the character described which will distribute the thrust strains thereon.

Four: To produce'propellers which may operate at high rotative speeds without causing se- 50 ve're vibrations in ships hulls or cause water to pound unduly against the same.

Five: To produce propellers of the character described which may be attached to ships without altering the construction thereof.

six: To produce such propellers which may movable and replaceable by employing air+chambers in ships hulls into which they may be 5 mitting the propulsive thrust to ships.

Eleven: To produce propellers-whose impellers and their driving motors are capable of being revolved at speeds sufliciently great as to cause 2 gyroscopic forces to be generated which may add Y to the stability of ships. 1

Twelve: To produce propellers which do not necessitate the burdening of ships with long and heavy propeller shafts together with their bearlugs and supporting frames.

Thirteen: To combine the various parts of my propellers and'their driving motors into compact propelling units and to provide for the lubrication of their shafts and bearings as'well as to seal the same against leakage of water from outside the ships on which they may be mounted.

Fourteen: To combine the thrust vanes of my propellers and form'casings which surround their impellers and which may be secured to the outside surface of ships hulls, either immovably or movably by means of trunnions upon which said casings may be turned when acted upon by turning gears situated inside the hulls of ships. 40

Fifteen: To construct propellers for high speed ships which do not jeopardize the safety of ships by over-stressing the materials of which their revolving parts are made.

able to all parts of ships hulls thereby enabling them to be located strategically thereon for the purpose of reducing the resistance and wavemaking proclivity of ships. I attain these objects and advantages by means of the propellers illustrated in' the accompanying drawings in which Figure I is a cross-section of my propeller and of the fragmentary portion of a steel ship to which it is attached and Figure II is a similar view of my propeller having its thrust-casing trunnioned so as to enable it to be turned with respect to the ship.

In both figures similar numerals refer to similar parts. It may be assumed that my propeller is shown mounted on the bottom of a ship, numeral 1" indicating the steel hull plating of the same, in

both figures.

Referring to Figure I; impeller 2, positioned outside the ship, is keyed to shaft 3 by which it may be revolved when driven by motor 4 which is situated inside the hull of the ship.

The bearings of motor 4 restrict the end-play of shaft 3 which is further positioned by bearing 5 which is fitted with a stuifing-box 6 at its upper end and a seal I at its lower end forthe double purpose of excluding water and retaining a lubricant which also protects the shaft from corrosion.

Air under pressure may be maintained in a chamber formed by walls 8 enclosing the propeller or the entire propelling unit. Said chambers may serve to restrict leakage of water into the ship as well as to facilitate the removal and the replacement of the propeller or propeller parts while the ship is afloat in water.

Thrust-casing! with its diaphragm I0 is secured to the ship through frame II which is the common support forthe entire propelling unit.

Thrust-casing 9 comprises the following parts, a double inlet I2-l2 fitted with vanes l3, a

compartment enclosing impeller 2 which is partially surrounded by a volut'e conduit l4, having its outlet l5 divided by thrust vanes l6--l6 and I1 and also by partitions I 8l8.

Thrust vanes ,l9l9 are not incorporated in the thrust casing 9 but are attached to the ship independently.

Referring to the samefigure and assuming that the propeller there shown is in operation and is propelling the ship to which it is attached in a direction corresponding to a movement from right to left with respect to the figure; the functioning is as follows:

Through inlet l2l2 water enters impeller 2 and is discharged by its motion through outlet I5, most of it leaving by way of the circular conduit II. The reactionary force's thereby produced are combined into a unified thrust with the aid of vanes l3, I6-l6, l1 and I9, through which vanes together with conduit H and the thrust-casing 9 as a whole the thrust is imparted to the ship as its propulsive thrust.

Referring to Figure 11 which shows my propeller having its thrust-casing secured to the supporting frame and thence to the ship by means of a trunnion 2| about which said thrust gJ-casingmay be turned while the propeller is in operation and thereby alter the direction of the I resulting thrust with respect to the ship on hiclr it is-mounted and propel it in various ections, ahead;"aster-n,v or sideways; said prof-pellenalso having the essential features of the ha justdescribed- =and functioning in the same "LI-7 6,

I prefer to form the apparatus for turning the above mentioned thrust-casing of a worm-wheel '22 which is keyed to trunnion -2i and its worm 21 29- fltted on the upper end of trunnion 2|.

Diaphragm 21 together with frame II supports the entire propelling unit and transmits its thrust to the ship.

The several views of another form of my propeller are shown in Figures III. IV, V, and VI; of

which Figure 111 is a. sectional elevation, (a view similar to Figures I and II), of my propeller having but one inlet to its impeller, and Figure IV is a sectional plan view (or horizontal section) of the same propeller in which the thrust vanes are shown in cross-section. Figures V and VI are exterior views. Figure V, a rear elevation and Figure VI, a side elevation.

In these figures, like numerals are employed to designate like parts and-the parts in these figures that correspond to those shown in Figures I and II are indicated by the same numerals; thus, i indicates the hull plating of a ship, 2 the centrifugal impeller, 3 the propeller shaft, 9 the thrust casing, l! the inlet, ll the semi-circular conduit, IS the outlet aperture, and i! the thrust vanes.

In the several views a fairwater 30 is shown extending from thrust casing l, as a continua- I tion of the streamlining of the same.

In Figure IV, the adaptation of the thrustvanes IT, to the purpose of deflecting the fluid from the impeller 2, into a rearward direction is apparent. The propulsive thrust imposed on the vanes while deflecting this fluid is communicated to the ship thru thrust-casing l, which forms a body for holding the various parts of the propeller together.

Thrust vanes I I are not designed to act as diffusing vanes which are commonly employed on centrifugal pumps for converting the velocity head of the fluid as it leaves-the impeller, into pressure head in the pump case; but are formed to serve their purpose as mentioned above without materially decreasing the velocity of the fluid after it leaves the impeller 2; and it may diately after leaving said impeller while being deflected by the thrust vanes I! and not as in jet propellers where the velocity of the fluid leaving the impeller is first reduced and the energy thereof is converted into potential energy, then afterwards the energy is again converted into kinetic energy as the fluid is ejected thru nozzles.

In my propeller these changes in the velocity of the fluid and the alternations or reversals of the accelerations of the same are reduced to a minimum or are practically eliminated as are also the losses in efliciency incurred thereby. The fluid in my propeller has its velocity steadily increased beginning at the instant the fluid entersthe propeller until it is discharged past the thrust vanes l1; and because of' the embodiment of this principle, the size of the apparatus pump as its appearance may suggest; inasmuch as it does not serve to convert the' velocity head of the fluid leaving impeller 2 into pressure head; but contrawise; it may serve to increase the velocity of said fluid still further; or it may serve simply to deflect the flow of the fluid without altering its velocity and in either case, the desired thrust is realized. 1

Variations in the width of the opening or outlet l5 where the thrust vanes are situated can be made by inserting filler pieces 3I'i'ndicated' by dotted lines, thereby causing in efiect; what corresponds to an increase inpitch, in the case of a screw propeller.

One characteristic of my propeller is that all the propulsive thrust generated by the same may be delivered to the ship thru immovable vanes, which I have termed thrust vanes, and

consequently none of the propulsive thrust need be imposed on the revolving blades of the impeller; thereby allowing the pressures on said blades to reman uniform or balanced thruout each revolution of the impeller.

It is intended that the forms of my invention shown and described herein are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, design and arrangement of the device and its parts may be resorted to without destroying theinvention, without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A ship propulsion mechanism comprising a power shaft, a fluid impeller fixed on said shaft, a casing having inlet and outlet openings surrounding said impeller and adapted to be secured to a ship and vanes fixed to said casing at the outlet opening, the thrust resulting from the operation of said mechanism being normal to the axis of rotation of said power shaft for the propulsion of the ship.

2. A ship propulsion mechanism as defined in claim 1 including means for securing said casing to said ship comprising a trunnion attached to said casing and a trunnion bearing concentric to said shaft and means for turning said trunnion whereby said casing and \vanes will be turned relative to the ship.

ALBERT FRANCIS ANDERSON. 

